Misguided Ghosts
by theirdarkmaterials
Summary: The entire flock is having issues but lately, Iggy has been feeling the most isolated. And one day, he can't take it anymore, so he flys away from the flock, finding Ari, and some secrets get uncovered. Will Iggy return to the flock? Rated T for language


Chapter One

"Max, this has nothing to do with you!" Fang's harsh words crashed right off his unforgiving tongue. It seemed to Iggy that he was bleeding inside, knowing that Max and Fang were having another one of their famous arguments. What they were about, Iggy never really knew for sure. The only thing that he could possibly do to make things better was comfort the Gasman and hope the fighting would stop, because when he did try to step in, it was as if Max couldn't hear him and Fang wasn't as negotiable as he was in the past. In fact, know that Iggy thought about it, it was like nobody in the flock heard him anymore. He just stood around, waiting for something good to happen while the Gasman buried his small face into Iggy's shirt, stifling sobs as Iggy hugged him around his bony shoulders. Nudge did the same with Angel, since Max wasn't as trustworthy as she used to be, at least for now.

While Iggy was comforting the Gasman to the best of his ability, he heard a loud slam come from Max's door, causing the Gasman to erupt into sobs. Even though they were in Anne's house, Max was still the emotional wreck she's been for the longest time. But who could blame her? She was a mutant freak who had avian DNA in her, she had practically the whole world on her shoulders, she's had a rough relationship with one of her brothers who is now out to kill her, and she had an actual _voice_ in her head, not like the ones where you are just thinking, but a voice that actually spoke to her. And, she had to care for five other of her kind.

After a few awkwardly silent moments, a small knock came across Iggy's door. "I'll get it," the Gasman insisted, and he jumped down from his feeble position on the bed to open the door, and Iggy sensed that it was Nudge and Angel, because Fang probably needed to blow off steam, and Max probably just wanted to be left alone. "Hey Nudge, hey Angel," the Gasman greeted them both. Iggy could feel Angel's soft crying as she pressed her face into her most beloved stuffed bear Celeste, who desperately needed a wash. "Listen guys," Nudge said, drawing a jagged breath, "The whole flock is falling apart," "Yeah, what else is new?" Iggy added smugly, but Nudge didn't even turn to face Iggy, not even Angel looked the slightest bit peeved. It was almost as if Iggy never said anything. "But Nudge, we are going to school, and that's fun," Angel chimed in sweetly, "I know," Nudge said quietly, "But I mean besides that."

As Iggy was watching the debate of "How to Save the Flock" unfold, he began to realize that he was becoming nothing more but Gazzy's source of comfort, which quickly led to the bitter thought of, _Couldn't he just use Angel for comfort? I mean, they are blood related after all. _His voiced thoughts were crashing on unwilling ears. _Well _he thought, _might as well try Fang. See if he can hear me._

Even though Iggy's eyes were sightless, he could sense, feel, and hear better than the average being, even though nothing was and never will be average about him and his life anyway. He slowly walked forward, easing himself off the feathery mattress so that his bare feet scratched slightly against the old carpet, but all his eyes dared to see was a never ending pool of of empty, dark space. And the worst part? This was a condition he was not destined with. He actually had memories that were kept away safe in the far depths of his mind, since these were memories of once being able to witness configuring and identifying shapes and colors. These memories tended to hurt the most. But none of this really mattered, but what did was using the rest of his senses to find Fang.

It took a little while, but eventually Iggy felt that had traces of unforgiving touch. The door felt slightly cold against his fingers, but he decided to knock anyway, his knuckles slamming hard on the much stronger oak door. "Fuck off!" Fang shouted in response, causing a shiver in Iggy's spine. Who knew Fang could be this nasty? Maybe Max was right about not knowing Fang anymore. But Iggy, like the free spirit he was, went in anyway.

"I said FUCK OFF!" Fang shouted again, noticeably louder this time, and Iggy was wondering why Max hadn't already stormed into Fang's room, but he guessed that she was too tired to fight anyway. Fang stayed in the same hunched over position in his wooden chair of his room for a while, panting and sweating in fury. Iggy was almost waiting for Fang to start breaking until he felt Fang's dark head raise slowly to look at who was coming to argue with him now. And when he saw that it was sightless, skinny, blond haired "brother", he felt a wave of guilt. He didn't know that he was telling Iggy to fuck off.

"Hey," Iggy almost whispered to Fang, trying not to scare him. He could sense that Fang was tensed up enough from his fight with Max, and Iggy didn't want to flare up another fire. He waited tensely outside Fang's door for a while until he heard Fang mutter, "I can't stand fighting with her," and, "I hate hurting her". It was then when Iggy decided to walk in.

"Sorry Ig," Fang whispered as he shifted in his seat uncomfortably. "You know how it has been with us. We just don't really get along as well as we used to, unless we never did get along and I've been mistaken this whole time." "Yeah, back when our only objective really was to save Angel," Iggy added, and Fang couldn't help it but smile in remembrance, not because Angel got taken away, but because everything _seemed _so simple then. "Maybe we could go back to the school to see where all the erasers are coming from, and if we can destroy that source." "Look Ig," Fang said, "I know you mean well, but we can't go back to the school and risk everything. Besides, Anne has been nice to us." Iggy was going to challenge Fang with the idea of how long it would last, but decided not to. "We've been pretty safe so far," Fang continued, "And we're almost becoming normal kids, going to school, and doing...normal kid things," "Fang, both you and I know that we will _never _be normal, no matter how hard we try," Iggy snapped, "You're letting your guard down." "I'm not letting my guard down!" Fang argued. "Fang, you never know when you, or the whole flock is going to be attacked! That's how our lives work!" "And you think I don't know that?" Fang hissed, being careful not to raise his voice. "We're safe here for now, so stop worrying." Iggy was going to say that he can't stop worrying, but the constant arguing was making him tired, so he just left Fang's room without another word.

Iggy walked silently to his room, realizing that the door had been left open, and there he felt Gazzy just lying on the bed, practically soaking himself in the mattress. And the weird thing was that the air in the room seemed very calm, as if the entire house was quiet and everyone was fast asleep. Iggy began to wonder about the logic of this situation. Wouldn't Gazzy have already been crying, or running towards Iggy hugging his knees? "There you are!" Gazzy exclaimed from his spot on the bed. "Where were you?" Iggy was puzzled. "Well, didn't you see me walk into Fang's room?" "No, you walked out of the house!" The Gasman replied. "Excuse me?" Iggy was shocked. He would never walk out of the house without someone with him. "Yeah, you just got up and walked out of the house. Just like that." Gazzy apparently felt the need to repeat himself. "But, Gazzy," Iggy said slowly, "I remember going into Fang's room to try to talk to him." "Really? I never heard anything." Gazzy paused for a moment. "Iggy, are you okay?" he finally asked with a hint of concern in his voice, "You've been all, I don't know how to really describe it, but you've been sort of quiet and ghostlike." "I've been trying to talk..." Iggy's voice drifted off. "But you've been backing away from everything," Gazzy cut in. Iggy shook his head slowly, not believing what he was hearing. Was it possible that nobody really did hear him unless he was alone, talking with only one other person? Was his interaction with Fang all just an illusion? "Gazzy, I think I'm insane."

Silence.


End file.
